Hurtful Words
by warorpeace
Summary: Berk is surrounded by dragons, Astrid is finally his friend and his father is proud of him. The world to which Hiccup awoke seemed perfect. But soon he finds out things aren't perfect, and one day he loses his cool, crumbling under the pressure of new expectations and responsabilities. Astrid finds a new side of him and Stoicks learns more about his son. Pre Riders-of-Berk


_**AN: Hello fellow readers. This OS was born after i wondered how Hiccup dealt with his father's new expectations and Berk's new reality after waking up from his coma. This was a coadjuvant work between me and Kate Carpenter, but right now she's too shy to...**_

_**CLANG**_

_**(falls off the chair) OWWW what's up with you women and violence?**_

_**Kate: Who are you calling shy? I dare you, I double dare you to say this agian to me and my frying pan. And you can bet she'll do more damage this time.**_

_**Me: You mean you crossed half the world just for that?**_

_**(KC rises the frying pan)**_

_**Me:Okay, okay, I didn't mean it!**_

_**Kate:Yes you did, but that's not the point... Anyway, as someone was saying (glares at me) this was a coadjuvant work we did. The idea was his but both of us was equally important in the process of creating this fic. So... we hope you enjoy.**_

**_Anything you'd like to ask darling? (she asks sweetly while swinging the frying pan)_**

**_Me: Nope Nope I'm Good... _**

**_Just... what she said_**

Hiccup was tired... completely, totally tired. It had been a few days since he woke up from his coma, much to everyone's relief, to shockingly meet a Berk filled with dragons peacefully pacing around. Astrid, shockingly, kissed him, his father was proud of him and he no longer had to hide Toothless from everyone, and worry that someone might find him. Gobber had even rebuilt Toothless' tail as a welcome back gift!

Granted that he didn't expect to wake up with half of his left leg being made of wood and metal, with a bit of Hiccup thrown in as Gobber said, but he wasn't really surprised. Hel, he felt lucky enough to come out alive from fighting the gargantuan Queen. He would never tell anyone, but he had been ready to accept death the moment he saw its tail about to hit him and Toothless.

And just like he said that day: 'We're Vikings, it's an occupational hazard.' So it wasn't surprising that he lost a limb to a dragon. His mentor, Gobber, lost two and was one of the most happy, active Viking around Berk. He just hoped he would be the last one to lose a limb fighting a dragon from now on. It certainly was not a pleasuring experience he would like to live again, or for anyone to go through.

But, he had been right. The reality that he faced after waking up felt too good to be true. He found out later that day that he would need to relearn how to walk properly again, as if he wasn't clumsy enough with two legs. He was deeply thankful that both Astrid and Gobber were helping him with that, not to mention the ever faithful Night Fury he had as a friend.

His father… it was an entire different subject. Granted that he was proud of his son, and no longer saw him as a disappointment, but slowly he stopped being so supportive and understanding as the days passed. Despite recovering from his lost limb, his father was constantly calling him to deal with any dragon-related problem.

They weren't many, much to the young Haddock's relief. Most of the dragons that came to Berk after the battle left in the middle of the winter, and, with the exception of Fishlegs, no one bothered to try to find out why. Only a handful, besides the dragons that his peers rode to the battle, remained in Berk. And while he awoke in the end of Winter, the dragons had yet to return from wherever they went.

The thing that annoyed Hiccup the most was not the fact that he had to relearn how to walk, or that Gobber was watching him like a hawk every time he left his house to walk, or even that Astrid, despite being closer to him, used violence as a form of communication, leaving his arms often bruised. It was that his father always seemed to forget that there were 5 other Dragon Riders in the village besides him to deal with those frustrating situations.

It was true that he had been the first among them, and that he trained the teen's dragons before they bonded with them, but most of the skirmishes Stoick had to deal could have been easily handed to Astrid or Fishlegs at least, if Snotlout and the Twins weren't to trust. And it didn't help that those skirmishes happened because a Viking happened to raise a weapon to a dragon, causing the reptile to act on instinct and go defensive.

He sat on his chair, heavily leaning his right arm on the table as he rubbed his sore stump with his left hand. Despite healing nice, his half-leg wasn't fully healed, and overextending himself would cause the skin to be sore. He didn't want to remove the prosthesis because he wanted to get used to it as quickly as possible. In fact, he only removed it before sleeping because Gobber told him so; otherwise he would wake up with the stump irritated.

"Another busy day eh bud?" he commented to Toothless, his tiredness evident in his voice. The dragon crooned in response, agreeing with the boy. Both of them, after flying around and making his exercise with Gobber, went everywhere on the village to settle down skirmishes by his father's orders. They've been nonstop for the whole day almost, and he didn't even see Astrid today because of how busy they had been.

He was rather grumpy, and no one could really blame him. Besides teaching the teens more about their dragons, and dealing with a flaming Snotlout and the Twins trying to train Barf and Belch (they named each head of their Zippleback like that. How they came up with those names was so simple it disturbed Hiccup) to wreak havoc around the village, he still had to worry about the wild dragons roaming freely on Berk.

There was also the fact that every skirmish he had to stop begun because of the exact same reason. He thought that, at least losing a leg and killing the Queen would help the Vikings accept the idea that they could coexist with dragons. But most of them seemed to simply forget that the war ended nearly two months ago as they were always raising their weapons against the first dragon caught in their sight.

The drunks were the worse. Toothless would often have to pin the drunken Viking down and all his reasoning would fall on deaf ears. What was even worse was when worse was when the Viking insulted him, painfully making he remember his old days as 'Hiccup the Useless'. Thankfully, there was always someone sober around to stop the drunk from engaging in a fight with any dragon. He hated how the mead increased tenfold the Viking stubbornness.

So yes, he was grumpy at the moment… very, very grumpy. Astrid, some of these days, tried to soothe him down, and for a moment he would forget all the trouble and pain (most coming from his leg) the moment he would lose himself in her ocean-blue eyes. But, alas, these moments didn't last so long, and she didn't get to do this today.

Toothless picked up his rider's grumpiness, and understood why. Thankfully, the dragon knew exactly how to make his human happy. Lightly nudging the boy's arm, he motioned to the open window the Haddock household had. Seeing that Toothless was pointing to the sky, Hiccup smiled, acknowledging what the dragon was requesting.

"We'll fly in a moment; just… let me rest a little. My leg is killing me" he answered to the Night Fury. The dragon cooed, respecting his rider's wish. He would occasionally worry that Hiccup was overextending himself; after all, he had awakened from a deep coma just a few days ago, and was just learning how to walk again. But, to the boy, there was never a bad time to fly around.

It was a feeling he became addicted to ever since their first, albeit disastrous, flight. Up there in the skies, there was only him and Toothless. Even back at when he was doing Dragon Training, the skies seemed to erase all his worries and fears. He could only feel the wind on his face, the muscles of Toothless twitching every now and them, and the joy of freedom. And even though the teens also learned to fly their dragons, he could easily be out of reach if he wanted to. No dragon could match his scaly friend's speed.

He could fly Toothless for hours, and sometimes he did so. These days his leg stopped him from being in the air for too long, as after a while his stump started to ache. But even that didn't stop the duo from flying around as long as both could.

Unfortunately, his daydreaming ended when the door was slammed open. Seeing his father wearing a grumpy face, almost mirroring his son's, made Hiccup sigh inwardly. He absently scratched Toothless under the chin; hearing his dragon purr in pleasure always helped him to keep calm when his father was having one of their conversations.

When his eyes fell on his son, as he sat on the chair near the table, Stoick sighed in relief. He had been looking around for Hiccup the entire afternoon, and had to interrupt his chiefly duties more than once to settle down any situations involving dragons. Sometimes he still had to hold himself from grabbing his trusty hammer and smacking a Nadder on the face, the urge being especially strong when seeing his son so close to the 'unholy offspring of lightning and death itself', but he knew his son was right and he did his best to help the village accept the dragons.

"Hiccup, where have you been? I looked for you all the afternoon and you were simply vanished." The vast man asked, not really bothering to look at his son as he went to grab a block of ice to heal his headache. Because he wasn't paying attention to Hiccup, he didn't see the annoyed expression the boy had after hearing the question.

"When I was not with Gobber, or taking Toothless to a flight, I was settling down the skirmishes you told me to help with" Hiccup answered back, exasperation dripping from his voice. While Stoick promised himself he would amend his relationship with Hiccup after the boy awoke, and for the first few days he seemed to be doing so, he was failing big time to give proper attention to his son recently.

Sitting down, he placed the ice block on his head, and gave a long sigh in relief as his headache began to dull. "Well then, fly less with him. I passed most of my day settling down skirmishes involving those beasts instead of being a chief." He demanded. Toothless was growling, as the dragon never liked to have his kin referred to as beasts. However, he didn't stay growling for long, as Hiccup patted his head, making him calm down.

"I don't know if you noticed, but there's not even one of me anymore to deal with them" Hiccup spoke with his trademark sarcasm. He was already joking with the whole peg-leg situation, much to Gobber's surprise. The blacksmith took a lot longer to accept that he would no longer have his hand back. The foot had been easier to deal with, as he already knew the drill of losing a limb.

But the truth was: Hiccup didn't fully accept his situation as he seemed to do so. Every time his leg failed him, he cursed himself and felt useless, just like he felt before meeting Toothless. His sarcasm was a way to vent his frustration and pain, without showing it. After all, it was through his sarcasm that he vented the pain and loneliness he felt for the 10 years he had been an outcast.

The only thing that he was thankful was that the hero status that came up with the peg-leg made settling down those skirmishes a lot quicker. And that it actually made people, at least those that were sober, listen to him. Still, he was feeling that the status was wearing off and that the village was beginning to look at him as an outcast again. This was very unsettling to him since he feared that things would return to how they were before Toothless.

Stoick just ignored Hiccup's sarcastic remark as he continued to lecture him. "Then do more. I can't keep interrupting my chiefly duties to settle down a skirmish because a Nadder got spooked for nothing" he said, making the boy get even more frustrated. He though he and his father were finally on good terms, and this situation just proved him wrong. He felt like they were going back to the old days, much to his distress.

"It would help if they stopped raising an axe or a mace every time they spot a dragon flying around." Hiccup suggested/sardonically replied. He couldn't understand that if Stoick the Vast, the greatest dragon-slayer Berk had in this generation, could withstand having a Night Fury living in his house, why couldn't the others withstand the sight of dragons carelessly flying around. It wasn't like they were stealing food or setting houses on fire anymore.

"Hiccup…" Stoick said sighing. "This whole dragon integration is happening because of you. So it's why you must oversee it" he reasoned. He was willing to accept, and even help, the integration of dragons on their daily-lives. He had seen how efficiently Nadders could fish, shortening the fishing trips, or how Gronckles could help carry wood around.

"Dad, I can't even walk straight." Hiccup admitted in frustration, running a hand on his hair. He was too tired to keep his tough façade to his father, "Besides there are the other teens to help. I'm not the only Dragon Rider around you know" he added, hoping that his father would listen to him.

"You were the first to tame one of these beasts"- Toothless growled again hearing that word, and both of them ignored the dragon this time-"as far as I know." He answered back. "So there's no one better to manage this matter than you." He added, frustrating even more Hiccup.

"This doesn't mean the others can't help. I'm sure Astrid or Fishlegs would be more than willingly to help, and capable of doing so. They have already trained their dragons very well, so I believe they can handle a skirmish with ease" he said standing, the throbbing feeling on his leg long forgotten. Toothless, sensing that Hiccup was getting more frustrated by the second, nudged him again.

Sighing, Hiccup complied. He was about to lose his cool with his dad and he really didn't want that to happen. Besides, a quick lap around the island would help him to refresh his mind. Leaning on the dragon, he slowly made his way to the door, much to Stoick's disappointment.

"If it's too much for you to handle, then you should have thought about that before letting them lose on… my… island…" his voice faltered as he noticed Hiccup heading to the door with Toothless. "Where are you going?" he asked, slightly angry. He was having a serious conversation (one-sided) with his son and the boy was just seemingly, leaving him to talk alone. It was times like these that he wondered if Hiccup really cared about the village or only cared about those flying beasts.

"I'm taking Toothless for a flight, otherwise he won't stop annoying me" he answered, unknowingly earning a glare from said dragon. He realized briefly after letting out these words that he didn't say it the best way, but he wouldn't admit to his father that he was going to fly Toothless because he was very frustrated with him at the moment. "Besides, this also involves you. If I learned on the job how to handle them, why can't the great Stoick the Vast do too?" he asked, his signature sarcasm dripping on his voice. This only infuriated the Viking chief more.

"Hiccup" Stoick bellowed, raising his voice as he stood. "There are more important things than taking him to fly. You can't just run away from your responsibilities" he lectured angrily, finally making the boy lose his patience. He has always seen Hiccup's sarcasm as a way of evading the consequences of his action, and this situation didn't make it him think any different of it.

"I'm not running away from anything" Hiccup angrily spoke back, but the tone missed Stoick's mind. "Though it wouldn't be the first time I thought of running away" he muttered as he opened the door. He didn't even notice Astrid, who was just rounding the corner of their house and didn't see her looking at him with wide eyes.

He hoped onto Toothless, thankful that he didn't remove the dragon's gear and within the second they were already in the air, the Haddock house nothing but a small dot in the island for the Night Fury and his rider.

Astrid had a calm day. Stormfly, her recently-named Nadder, was behaving much better since she began to train her. Occasionally, she saw Hiccup handling a skirmish, but never seemed to be able to get close to the boy until night. When she saw him heading to his house, she took this as the perfect opportunity to visit him.

She knew how stressful these days had been for Hiccup. Even though the boy kept a tough demeanor, she could see on his eyes how frustrated he was every time he had to settle down a skirmish because someone mindlessly raised a weapon to a dragon. She could see how he hid away the pain from his leg, as she spotted more than once Toothless looking at his metal leg worried.

Because of this, she decided to visit him after he went to his house. She figured he could use some support, and someone to talk to. She knew he always talked to Toothless, but the dragon could only help so much as he didn't speak Norse. So it was entirely reasonable that she was shocked to see Hiccup stomping off almost fuming from his house, before taking off with Toothless.

In fact, this wasn't even her worry for the moment. It had been the words he muttered that really worried her. Those words caused her to have a flashback, bringing her to the moment before she met the Night Fury.

"_I'm so leaving. We're leaving. Let's pack up. Looks like you and me are taking a little vacation, forever"_

She had brushed aside those words, thinking he would runaway to keep Toothless both as a secret and away from harm, and to avoid facing the Nightmare. It wasn't like she was all wrong though. Anyone that had seen this scene and knew of Hiccup's situation would have thought the same.

But after seeing Hiccup angrily fly away from a discussion with his father, she began to see things from a different perspective. It was no secret to her how his relationship with Stoick was completely broken, or how he had been outcast by the village until the Red Death's battle, or how Snotlout and the Twins made him life a living him, while she only pitied him from afar.

It was why she was being supportive these days. She was trying to amend her mistakes, to know more of the boy that trained a Night Fury. She wanted to see more of the real Hiccup, not the klutz trying to shot down a Night Fury, but the long lost childhood friend that took her to fly on the back of the most dangerous dragon known to them and turned her world upside down.

This moment, she began to consider that, perhaps, he wasn't running away exclusively because of the affairs involving the dragons. She didn't think he would have the guts to do so if Toothless wasn't the only friend he had back then. Only now did she start to consider that, maybe, he was running away because he didn't want to be an outcast anymore, to be a disappointed and be bullied, and that facing the Nightmare was the final straw and the dragon the perfect way to leave.

Hesitantly, she approached the Viking chief. She faintly heard Stoick mutter something about 'being as stubborn as his mother' and 'being a rebellious teenager'. She purposely made the wood creak, making sure her presence was known to the chief. After all, she entered his house without permission, even though the door was open. And she didn't dare approaching the man with his current enraged state, at least not without permission.

Seeing Astrid standing in front of him made Stoick adjust his posture. Even though he was angry with Hiccup, he was still a chief, and if the lass was looking for him, he had to act like one. Burying away his troubled feelings, as usual, he addressed the young shield-maiden. "Oh Astrid, didn't see you there. Are you looking for Hiccup?" he asked.

He knew very well that she and his got closer. Weirdly to him, it looked like they did before the battle, considering that she often came to look out for Hiccup the days he was in a coma so he could go attain his chiefly duties. She had been of great help, since the beginning of winter is the time of the year he has to work the most. Thankfully, he didn't have to worry anymore about being raided this time, so he got part of his job cut up.

"I…" she said before pausing. She had been looking for him, but now that he was flying Toothless in the night, it would be impossible to find him. Instead, she thought that maybe a pep talk with Stoick would be in order. She thought his relationship with the scrawny boy was getting better, but the discussion she just overheard proved her wrong.

"Sir, if I may ask, what was this all about?" she asked, unusually beating around the bush. It was understandable, though, this action, uncharacteristic of her, since she was partially afraid of enraging the chief.

Stoick sighed. "No need to worry, it's alright Astrid. Hiccup's just being a teenager. He'll get over it soon enough before returning." he said dismissively, while also trying not to be angry again at his son's abrupt vanishing from their discussion. He pinched the bridge of his nose and briefly closed his eyes, a small effort to calm himself. 'Besides, Hiccup would eventually return, so no worries. We can continue our conversation then' Stoick thought, looking on the bright side of the situation.

But, somehow, Astrid had a strange feeling in her stomach. She was pretty sure that this was far from over. It didn't help her that Stoick was being so dismissing of the arguing he just had with Hiccup. A memory suddenly resurfaced… words spoken quietly by someone who didn't know anymore what to do. A memory seemingly unimportant at that time now filled her head.

"There's something I think I should tell you… concerning Hiccup and…and what he just…said…" she said. Stoick opened his eyes, surprise evident in them after hearing Astrid speak. Rare it was the occasion where one of the teens would seek him, even rarer when one of them would have something to tell him. Still holding a block of ice, he nodded to her, indicating that he was listening.

"Well… you probably don't know, but I found out about Toothless before he showed up on the Arena that day." she began, hesitant that the chief would be beyond angry with her for working with Hiccup behind their backs; especially because she had been considered the epitome of the Viking kind. So to admit that the perfect Viking model betrayed them, even though now they accepted dragons, would not go down easily.

The first thing Stoick wanted to do was to shout at her. Shout and yell at how could she, the prodigy of Berk, the perfect shield-maiden, go behind everyone's back and help his son hide the most dangerous dragon known to the Vikings. But he held himself that moment. He now knew very well why would she helped Hiccup hide the Night Fury, and to shout at her for that would be useless.

Besides, now that they're 'at peace' with the dragons, or trying to be, this piece of information was useless. He held himself because he suspected there was more to what she just spoke, so, taking a couple of deep breaths to calm down his boiling blood, he nodded slowly, showing that he was still listening to her.

Inwardly, Astrid gave a very long sigh in relief when the Chief nodded back instead of shouting in her ears until she became deaf. She was nervous, and for a moment she wondered how Hiccup managed to not only talk to his father, but to be sarcastic as well. A part of her reasoned that, years of living under the same hoof that Stoick lived got the boy used to his father's intimidating appearance.

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself into continuing her story. She had Stoick's attention and given how busy the chief always was, she should consider herself lucky. Hopefully it would be long before someone came in to report a problem involving dragons, or anything else that might require the chief's attention.

"The truth is Sir; the day before the…arena incident…I followed Hiccup after I lost the competition. I always thought it was strange how he disappeared for the rest of the day in the forest. I followed him as stealthy as possible and wondered why he was carrying such a big basket with him through the forest." She paused to sigh. Despite their 'romantic flight' as she would secretly call it, that day was not one she liked to remember. Especially given she had almost been eaten by the Queen and beaten Hiccup like Snotlout used to do.

Steeling herself out of this trail of thoughts she continued her storytelling. "To tell a long story short, upon his arrival I heard him say to whom I presume it must have been Toothless: '_I'm so leaving. We're leaving. Let's pack up. Looks like you and me are taking a little vacation, forever' _I didn't pay much attention to his words back then because I was more focused in uncovering his secret. But…but when he stormed out not long ago he muttered something about not thinking of running away for the first time." She explained.

She took a deep breath before saying the dreaded question that she feared deeply the answer. "What….what if he really leaves this time?" she asked the vast chief nervously but towards the end her voice grew faint and concerned.

Stoick put the ice block down and sighed. "Astrid. This is Hiccup we're talking about." He said in his matter-of-fact-voice. Astrid briefly closed her eyes in frustration. It was obvious that, again, he was disregarding what she just spoke as another ranting from his son. Hiccup wouldn't leave the tribe, right? She had no more such confidence in saying the answer to that question was 'no'.

Opening her eyes Astrid directed her gaze to the chief's grayish-green eyes before speaking up. "That is why I'm so concerned Sir. Hiccup is capable of anything, and he's proven that in the past; more than once as a matter of fact. And he seemed to be very unhappy lately. What if…what if we're not making any progress at all? What if he decides to leave after all?" she repeated the question, almost desperate for Stoick to see her point.

"Now hold your horses Astrid. Hiccup is just angry and overreacting. Let him cool down a bit. In an hour he'll be back solving all our dragon problems as usual. Don't worry too much. Even if he had plans of leaving in the past, I can assure you that they're all gone now." Then he put down the ice block, stood and said louder, using his chiefly voice: "Now young lady, return to your work. I have a few things to discuss with Silent Sven. Although I think it will be a very one-sided conversation." He pointed out, trying to lighten up the somber mood that Astrid's question had set.

With those words he left Astrid standing alone in the big house in utter disbelief at the man's sheer stubbornness. She could understand why Stoick would not listen to Hiccup, and she had thought it was something the chief only did with Hiccup because of his mistakes. But now it was apparent that Hiccup was not the only one privileged of being ignored.

She sighed, feeling defeated. Feeling like this made her want to both yell in anger every inch of air she held within her lungs and, weirdly, to cry. She almost lost him once, because of the stupid Viking stubbornness, and the thought of losing him again, especially to the same reason, was nearly unbearable. "Like all conversations with you are Chief. Can you assure me that Hiccup has abandoned these thoughts?" she whispered silently to herself before leaving the empty house.

.

.

By the time Stoick had returned home from his conversation with Silent Sven he had forgotten entirely about his fall-out with his son and Astrid's story. He was feeling completely tired, as if he had fought off two Nightmares at the same time. He had done such a feat in the past, but back then he had been much younger; Hiccup had been just a toddler by then. Now he was getting old. The growing grey hairs were becoming numerous, and his son's attitude was only making them grow faster.

He picked two ice blocks, since the one he had left in the table melted, leaving a puddle of water on the table that he would likely have to clean up later. He sat down in his chiefly chair, nursing a two-sided headache with two ice-blocks while sitting in his throne when he finally noticed something.

It was…oddly silent… the house. In fact, the silence was so dense that he felt like it was a fog, surrounding the whole building. It gave him an eerie feeling, since he could swear that, not just once, this silence felt touchable.

Normally Hiccup would roam upstairs in his room, drawing or working on small models for prototypes of his newest inventions or talking to Toothless or be downstairs with him and talk about his day. And his dragon would be there next to him, jumping around in the rafters and knocking over the furniture. Even if the boy was sleeping Stoick would be able to clearly hear the Night Fury's snores.

This….silence….was deafening. It reminded him of all those years before they had made peace with the dragons, obviously when they weren't being raided. It reminded him of before he and his son had gotten closer again, of when they argued and Hiccup would just go quietly to his room. Back then the silence had been just like now, but it never bothered him. His days were always busy, and often he had to supervise his son so he would not destroy the village with one of his inventions.

A silent night like this was something he deeply appreciated back then. It allowed him to rest, and sleep peacefully. Even when he was haunted by the memories of Valka being taken away by that odd dragon he still appreciated the silence. But now… he felt like suffocating, a force tightening around him, just like a Whispering Death, slowly crushing his bones. For a moment he became desperate, before realizing that his lungs were not indeed burning; it had been just a trick of his mind as it was unsettled with this silence.

Sighing he got up and put the ice-blocks away. He made his way up the stairs to his son's room and peeked inside. "Hiccup?" he asked. No answer came back. Afraid that he would awake his son Stoick asked again, only slightly louder. When no sound came from the dark room just like before that he finally entered.

The bed was made but empty, the chair was neatly pushed against the desk, and the stone on which Toothless usually slept was deserted and otherwise was the room empty. He could faintly see the outline of numerous paper sheets, and even a mug in Hiccup's desk. He found a small comfort at the scene, since it was pretty much the only indication that his son resided in this room.

It was… strange. Hiccup had never been one of leaving his room organized, especially at night.

Stoick looked outside the window.

It was already dark outside, the faint light of the moon barely letting his eyes see the room. He knew Hiccup liked to take the dragon for a nightly flight. And he never bothered to complain after the third time they did this. His dragon was a Night Fury, so it made sense that the dragon would love to fly under the dark of the night. Still, usually Hiccup would be home by now, even after those flights.

Maybe he was still at the Arena? No, it wouldn't make sense. The place had no holds for torches, and he doubted Hiccup would have made a camp-fire there. The place had yet to be visited by both father and son since the incident, and only few Vikings had gone there since the Red Death's battle. Maybe he's with Astrid and the other teens? It would make sense, they could be camping…

Stoick never finished this trail of thoughts, as a name struck his head.

Astrid… Astrid… his head repeated this name for a couple of times, almost like it was telling him that he had to remember something associated with it. Suddenly he remembered her words, how worried she sounded when they talked, and an uneasy feeling settled in his stomach almost instantly.

No, this was ridiculous. Hiccup wouldn't run.

He wouldn't, right?

As he stomped down the stairs, and outside, Stoick tried to convince himself that he was merely checking if everything was alright (as if he had not checked that three times this day) and that he was not overreacting. He was the chief after all, and chiefs didn't overreact.

He was not contemplating that Hiccup really could have run away. No he wasn't. He refused to believe that his son would have done that. Deep in thought he didn't hear his name being called until a hand touched his arm. Startled he swirled around, almost reading himself in a battle-stance, only to see Astrid standing there, Snotlout and Ruffnut at her side. He relaxed, only slightly, as the uneasiness refused to leave him.

"Ahh, sorry Sir…" she apologized a bit sheepishly. But, before Stoick could say anything, she spoke again "Is Hiccup back by now? We had a meeting near the cliffs and he missed it. That's nothing like him, since he went to every meeting we had since he awoke…" Astrid said nervously, though she was the only one. Her two partners looked just bored, and sleepy.

And it was kinda strange seeing Ruffnut without her twin. He just hoped that Tuffnut was not off about to prank someone, probably her since they only prank other when together, or that his sister didn't kill him.

Stoick shook his head. Mustering as much concentration as he could he spoke without his voice quavering: "No, he's not…" He answered plainly. He turned and made a move forward but stopped. Quickly, he turned again to Astrid. "Actually that's what I wanted to ask you… if you had seen him since he left." He spoke with a neutral tone, but Astrid saw his eyes betray him. He was probably as afraid as she was that Hiccup could really have left.

Astrid nervously shifted her weight. She hesitated, but eventually slowly shook her head, answering the chief's question. Stoick sighed, feeling defeated and worried that Hiccup did not return. Even if the boy had the Night Fury around to protect him he was still weak. It didn't even pass a month since his awake, and the thought that something could have happened to him deeply scared Stoick.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Astrid cleared her throat. Shyly shifting her weight again she asked him something that was nagging her mind: "Sir, could this have anything to do with…earlier?" she did not clarify it, but he didn't need it. Only now the full weight of his conversation with Hiccup settled in.

'_Though it wouldn't be the first time I thought of running away.'_

Stoick looked at her for a few seconds, the words replaying on his mind. He quickly resigned himself that he had to talk to someone about this, and answered her dismissively: "I don't think so. Go and look for him. I go and talk to Gobber." And then he began making his way toward the smith. However, he barely took two steps before someone spoke up to him again.

"We already checked the smithy." Snotlout said with a somewhat annoyed tone in his voice. Frustration got the upper hand and Stoick turned around. "That's not why I'm going there." Stoick snapped at him. "Now go. And tell me when you find him." He didn't wait to hear their answer as he resumed his walk toward his good old friend.

"Yes Sir." The three young Vikings quickly answered, no one daring to defy the chief when he seemed to be a second away of losing his mind.

.

.

The smithy was still open and Stoick could hear Gobber sing and tap on the worktable from two houses away. He grimaced when he thought about the complaints he would have in the morning from Gobber's neighbors, or the headache he would have if the man kept singing. He would never say it, but Gobber was an awful singer.

"You really need to stop singing at this hour old friend. I think I hear enough complaining every day to have them complaining also about your singing." He said upon entering the smithy. He quickly took a stool to sit down and leaned against the desk. Since he didn't bother showing to Gobber how tired he was he heavily leaned on the desk, making the wood cringe under the vast weight of his beefy arms.

"I can't, I got practice to do. I'm thinking about bringing up the band again! But I still haven't found my panpipes so…" Gobber said grinning. He turned a piece of metal in the hot embers of the forge before removing it. The metal was hot, a white glowing coming out from him. For a few seconds the only sound in the forge was the banging of Gobber's hammer in the piece of the metal.

The blacksmith finally finished banging it, before putting the metal in a bucket of water. The liquid hissed, and steam came out as the metal cooled. When he deemed the metal to be cool enough he removed from the bucket and quickly inspected it before putting it down in the anvil. At last Gobber turned to give attention to his friend. "If you're looking for that son of yours, he hasn't been here all evening. And I could've really used his help, that's why I'm still working." He vaguely gestured to the forge, where piles of broken weapons recovered from the Dragon Island were lying down.

Stoick frowned. "The whole evening?" they had discussed on late evening, an hour or two before the sunset. To hear that Hiccup didn't come over to the forge the whole evening only fueled his idea that Hiccup was, indeed, running away from his responsibilities. He almost forgot his talk with Astrid… almost.

"Ay, the lad had always to interrupt his work to run around after dragons but after lunch he just vanished. It's really admirable how much he tries to do for the sake of the village. He will make a good chief one day." Gobber commented proudly. He knew how dedicated Hiccup was; he had always seen how the boy forged a weapon or even his own inventions. He was happy that Hiccup could finally put up this dedication without being scowled.

Stoick snorted. "Not if he keeps running from his responsibilities." He muttered to himself, although the blacksmith ended up overhearing it. He didn't think Gobber would be lying, or even being easy on Hiccup, but he also didn't think the man was entirely right about what he just said.

Gobber laughed, thinking that Stoick was trying to be sarcastic as Hiccup usually was. However his laugh quickly died down before turning into a frown when he saw how serious Stoick was. He didn't suppress himself from asking "What, Hiccup is running away from his duties? That's a new one for me." nor did he suppress the surprised tone his voice had. Hiccup had never been one to run away from his duties, not even when the forge was at its busiest days.

"Aye. I spent most of my day settling down skirmishes between dragons and Vikings instead of overseeing the food supplies. I got home and then we got to talk. But he left in the middle of the conversation to fly with that Night Fury of his" he said somewhat annoyed.

Gobber eyed him worriedly. He took another stool and put it next to Stoick so he could be face-to-face with the chief. Hiccup never left when his father was talking to him, so it was obvious to the blond Viking that something was deeply unsettling him. "Is that all? Nothing else happened, or there's nothing else you would like to say?" he asked Stoick, looking directly into his eyes.

Stoick hesitated for a moment, before recalling what Hiccup muttered and the talk he had with Astrid right after Hiccup left. "He said something about not being the first time he thought of running away, and then Astrid appeared, wanting to talk to me. She said that the day before what happened in the Arena…" he gulped, recalling how he had disowned Hiccup. It was one of the few things he came to regret in his whole life.

He cleared his throat, yet again burying his feelings down. "She said she followed him to the woods, to find out how he got good at Dragon Training. She said that, before she found out about the Night Fury"- Gobber's eyebrows shot up in surprise, since he obviously didn't know that Astrid new of the dragon before it came to the Arena-"she overheard him speaking to it that they were leaving… and that she had thought that moment it was only because of the dragon, but now she thinks he would have also done it because of how we treated him…"

Gobber furred his eyebrows, thinking the words he would say to Stoick. He knew how Hiccup felt, but never thought that the boy was feeling so low to the point he would almost leave Berk. It was an unsettling thought to the blacksmith, since it meant he failed yet again to pay proper attention to his apprentice. Meeting Toothless, apparently, had not been the only thing he failed to notice on Hiccup's behavior.

"Astrid is right about one thing. Think about it Stoick. Do yeh really think that almost ten years of loneliness and misery will vanish into thin air just because of what happened in these past months? We both know that yeh and Hiccup have not the ideal father-son-relationship." He chuckled, earning a confused look from the chief.

"In fact, yehr relationship is far from perfect." He missed the glare and the brief guilt look Stoick had hearing this.-"But now as yeh are trying to mend it, yeh have to be careful. If anything, we have to even more carful to keep what we build. And so do yeh. Or Hiccup and all of us too, will sink back into old habits. And I'm not talking about the dragons." Gobber said seriously.

Stoick sighed in defeat. His friend's words were true, but a (stubborn) part of him felt like he was taking Hiccup's side. "I just wish he could be a bit more…" Stoick moved wildly with his arms not sure how to put it.

"Like you?" Gobber asked dryly, knowing very well what Stoick meant. It had been for this exact reason that Hiccup was put into blacksmith apprenticeship, and it was the same reason why the man was so contrary to Hiccup building his contraptions.

"What would be wrong about that?" Stoick asked frustrated.

"It wouldn't be Hiccup." He answered plainly, before explaining himself. "Stoick, yeh must learn to take Hiccup as he is. He's so much different then yeh were his age. Yeh are two entirely different people. Don't yeh remember what I told yeh before yeh put him in Training? Hiccup is not that kind of kid, and is because of this that we finally ended the Dragon War" Gobber explained uncharacteristically softly. He knew how Stoick was stubborn but, from experience, he knew he could make his friend open his eyes to the matter. He did so to get Hiccup into Training, he could do it again.

"I just don't understand why he has to make things always so complicated. It's like he wants me to grow grey hair in my beard or something like that." Stoick commented in defeat.

"He's not making things complicated. It's true that he usually does something crazy but, right now, things are complicated as they are. By Odin's beard Stoick. This is the first time in 300 years that dragons and Vikings are living together. Keeping this peace is a huge responsibility. A responsibility Hiccup is trying to stand up to." He explained

"But it's especially hard for a fifteen year old boy who recently just lost his leg. He can barely walk before tiring himself or feel his stump flame up in pain." Stoick looked at him surprised; he didn't see Hiccup complain a single time about the leg. In fact the boy was already joking about it. "Of course Hiccup is hiding this to keep up with yehr expectations, but he won't be succeeding much longer. He normally wouldn't be ready for this, and with the leg, he is even less. That's why you have to show him how it's done, yeh have to support him, involve the other dragon riders to help him." He suggested. Gobber didn't need Hiccup to tell him that at least Astrid and Fishlegs had already trained very well their dragons. The blacksmith occasionally spotted through the window those teens passing by, with their dragons in tow as if it was a puppy.

"But he's the expert." Stoick argued, in vain.

"On dragons he may be. But Astrid and Fishlegs already know how to handle those beasts, so they definitely could be of help. Besides, yeh're the expert about duties and leadership. Yeh need to show him how it's done properly and then the lad will succeed. He really tries hard Stoick. It's just that, next to mistakes, the small victories are forgotten."

Stoick sighed. This was getting him nowhere. He was feeling tired and annoyed and frustrated and many other things he was too tired to list. He did pay attention to Gobber, but decided to think about them on the next day. His headache might have dulled, but now he felt like he could be lying on the smoldering embers that he would still sleep like a rock.

He got up. "None of this is important if we don't find him." He growled, but Gobber could notice the ting of worry and tiredness. The smith sighed. He just hoped that Stoick listened to him all this time, otherwise things would go nowhere. Not only this, but Gobber was also afraid that, considering how Hiccup has recently been weak physically and mentally (it's not everyone that managed to wake up from a coma unscathed after all. Not to mention the whole dragon subject) the boy would do a big mistake… like leaving.

"If Hiccup really had no sense for duty or loyalty, then why didn't he leave with his dragon, back when he had a chance. They could have easily flown away after yeh took the Night Fury from his chains. But he didn't. He came back and ended the war for us, the people who outcast him. He faced that monster, knowing very well he would probably not come out of it alive, and yeh know he barely made it. Hiccup knows where his duties are and what they are. You just sometimes seem to forget that he's still learning. He's just a boy after all." He said, in a last attempt to get something on Stoick's head

The bearded Viking froze for a moment. Gobber was right; Hiccup could have easily left after he climbed that Night Fury. But instead he went and killed the biggest dragon the Vikings had ever seen, losing his leg in the process. He shook slightly his head, deciding to think about that after sleeping. He went to the door but, before he left, Stoick partially turned and said silently: "Goodnight Gobber. And… no more singing…"

.

.

Try to find a Night Fury at the darkest time of the night when his rider probably doesn't want to be found. It's not easy and practically close to impossible. Astrid suppressed the urge to let out a frustrated yell, although no one would hear her at this moment. They'd been searching Berk and its surrounding islands for more than an hour now and still they found no sign of Hiccup and Toothless.

She didn't want to admit it but she felt exhaustion in her bones and a voice urging in her head to go home and sleep, to continue the search tomorrow after being well fed and rested. The others had long gone, claiming it had no use searching now. Astrid knew they were probably right but she didn't have to like that. Besides, she didn't think she would be able to sleep if she kept worrying about where Hiccup flied off to.

Not to mention something was telling her that she would find him if she kept looking. Suddenly a thought clicked inside her tired mind: they had focused on looking on the surrounding islands, not on the whole island of Berk. She could feel her hope dim, being slowly extinguished by fear. One last place came up to her mind, and with all her forces she prayed that he was there.

The Cove…

Astrid could have kicked herself as it dawned inside her head. 'Of course, the place was his sanctuary; his place of comfort and quiet.' And her mind wasn't entirely wrong. She had a hunch that the times he went missing in the forest he spent in the cove, and considering how Toothless couldn't fly without him there was little room to doubt inside her mind.

She steered Stormfly towards Raven-Point and descended towards the beautiful cove. Flashbacks of the first flight she had came to her mind, and a small blush crept on her face as she realized how snuggled she had been on Hiccup.

She could see from the sky that the water was perfectly still, not a single ripple disturbed the surface of the pond. The stone-cliffs and trees towered above all and the shadows stretched into creepy forms in the moon-light.

It was also very still. She could only hear her breathing and the only sound that disturbed the silence was the thump the paws of her Nadder did when they landed, and the thump she also did, although barely audible, when she slid off her dragon's back.

"Hiccup?" she asked glancing around. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness of the cove. When they got used to the dark, she noticed a glint coming from the other side of the cove. As she neared it, she recognized the material as part of Toothless' tail, although she couldn't discern the black lump the dragon was from the darkness surrounding him. "I know you're here. Please, come out!" she called out after noticing Hiccup was not with Toothless, and started to walk along the shoreline of the water.

The silence around her was heavy and suffocating until… "What are you doing here Astrid? Are you here on behalf of my father?" he suddenly asked from behind her. She jumped frightened and startled by his sudden appearance. Had it been any other situation, the scene would have been hilarious: The great and fierce Astrid Hofferson being scared by Hiccup, the boy who can't be stealthy even if his life depended on it.

"Hiccup!" she growled, frustrated that she had been scared, and that somehow she didn't hear the squeaking his leg does every time he moves. She scolded herself mentally for not being as attentive as she had thought.

He folded his arms, clearly showing he was neither amused at scaring her nor happy about her presence in the Cove. "I'm really not in the mood Astrid." His words were proving that she indeed didn't imagine things when looking at his face. Oddly, although his words were harsh, they lacked the harsh tone. If anything, his voice sounded more defeated than anything.

His voice wasn't the only thing sounding defeated. He looked weary and tired, a far cry of the enthusiastic boy he usually was. There were deep circles under his eyes and his face looked ashen in the moonlight. Only now she could see how much these nonstop days were weighting on him.

The sharp comment died on her tongue. "Hiccup…"she whispered, earning the attention of the boy. "What's wrong?" she asked with genuine concern. He must have been surprised at the sudden show of concern, as Astrid notice his shoulders slump before he left out a sigh.

Hiccup looked at her with a pained expression and turned around. He walked closer to the water and picked up a stone and threw it, the stone flitting over the water as it bounced before finally sinking.

The perfect surface was disturbed and ripples extended in every direction.

"Nothing." He spoke, giving her a short answer after a moment of silence. She rolled with her eyes, obviously not buying it. Even if she had not seen him before he took off his current demeanor showed how 'nothing' was wrong with him. "At least nothing that is of your concern." He added quietly, almost inaudibly. But she still caught the words.

"You're wrong. We're a team now. So whatever it is, you can tell Me." she spoke softly, reminding him that he was no longer alone. Part of her felt frustrated that, even though she had actively been supporting him these days, he was dismissing her this moment as he would do if she was Snotlout.

He swirled around and growled at her, his face showing outrage and disbelieve. He was hurt and tired, so his emotions were freely taking reign of his attitude. "As I could these past years?" he asked, spitting the words as is they were poison. For some reason he felt like being taken as an idiot hearing her words, and unconsciously brought back those years he had been all by himself.

She took a step back, shocked at the sudden outburst. The guilty feeling rose like bile in her throat, making her sick to the point where she felt like puking. She knew that this wasn't over. She wished that somehow the past years would have dissolved into thin air and everything could go as it had these past few weeks. That all these days she passed distantly watching him being bullied was nothing but a nightmare; that she never spoke harshly to him as she did during Dragon Training.

But at the same time she felt angry. 'How could Hiccup blame it all on her? She hadn't been the only one to taunt him. And why did he have to bring it up now, where everything was going on so well?' were the questions nagging her mind. He showed to be a very forgiving person, especially with his father, so why all of a sudden he was accusing her and showing a grudge?

But then… she realized: 'Well…..things weren't so well lately' she had to sadly admit it. He was growing more tired as the days passed by, and the discussion he had earlier with his father seemed to be the final straw for the bottled emotions to erupt. And Hiccup didn't blame her entirely, she just happened to be the only one close by when this was happening.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself and the part of her that wanted to punch him. She had unfortunately arrived when his emotions were being poured out like an exploding volcano, and for a moment she cursed her stubbornness for getting her into the scapegoat position.

_Concentrate on why you are here. Making him angrier will only drive him away further_, she thought. "Hiccup, I know you are frustrated about how things are right now, but that is still no reason to give it all up." She said, trying to lighten up his mood. Of course it would have helped it Stoick wasn't so stubborn.

Still, it was quite unsettling to see him on the verge of giving up about everything. He never gave up all those years on trying to kill a dragon, and even facing death on the Red Death's battle he still didn't lose hope. There had been only one time she could recall when he was about to give up, and she had been there to support him. And, seeing that moment happening again in front of her, she knew she would have to be the one to support him once again.

He laughed slightly but it was without any humor. "Frustrated? The word frustrated doesn't even start to describe how I feel at the moment." He spat coldly and rubbed his tired eyes before explaining. "Frustrated would be the proper description of my relationship with my father and the stubbornness of Vikings."

"But it doesn't describe the pain I'm in… physically and mentally. So don't give me that shit. You have no idea how it feels." He admitted, sounding so pained that Astrid had to suppress a wince. She would have gasped, but managed to contain it. For him to admit the burdens he have been bearing, all while hiding from everyone else he was doing so, meant he really must be on the verge of losing hope.

He sighed before pinching the bridge of his nose. He went and sat in front of the pond, and kept unmoving, his gaze fixed on the reflection of the moon in the crystalline water. Astrid took a hesitant step, and then another, and kept doing so until she was at his side. When met with no protest she sat and decided to look at the reflection as well.

It was so odd. The surrounding was quiet and peaceful, looking at the reflection of the moon felt relaxing, yet she could feel tense by just sensing the turmoil radiating from the boy that changed Berk near her. "Hiccup…" she called, and the only response she earned was a small turn of his head toward her direction. It was enough for her. "I know I haven't been there when you needed, but now you're not alone. Please, let me help you"

It must have been her voice, or the fact that fearless Astrid Hofferson had just pleaded, or just how genuine her concern sounded because it made Hiccup's defenses soften up. He rested his elbows on his knees, and used his hand to support his head as he left out a quiet sigh. "Sometimes I feel like losing my leg wasn't enough for them, as if they expect more of me, or that the heroism I did was just in vain. Sometimes I feel like they're just looking at me like they did before Toothless…" he admitted, making her heart twist in sadness and guilt.

She placed a hand on his shoulder, and with her other hand, she cupped his face, making him look directly into her eyes. He weakly tried to resist, but she, albeit gently, forcedly made him look at her eyes. Even though it pained her to see him so broken, it also infuriated her that he was seeing himself as Useless once again, and she would not let him do this ever again.

"Hiccup… no one is looking at you like that, and no one certainly forgot what you gave up" she casted a brief glance at his leg before looking again at his eyes, "to save us. Yes we are stubborn, but so are you. No one said making peace with two kinds that have been enemies for 300 years was easy, and yet you still believed it was possible. And you're not alone on this journey." She said firmly.

"We all lost something to this war…" she said quietly, and he knew she was talking of more than just his leg, "but now we're trying to make sure you leg was the last thing lost to it. I-we may not have been there for you before, but now me, Fishlegs, Snotlout and the Twins are with you to help them see that peace with the dragons is possible."

"But how do I know, how do you know, that things won't fall back to how they have been, that our words won't fall on deaf ears?" he protested, but she could see in his eyes that the flame that always burned inside him was lighting up again. He only needed a push to see that things could really change; just liked he had needed a push to see that all hope wasn't lost when Stoick sailed to Dragon Island.

"We don't. No one really knows what will happen tomorrow. I know no one thought that after finishing Dragon Training we would have finished a 300-years war." She conceded, before an idea popped inside her head. "Tell me: did you know you would one day manage to capture a Night Fury?" she asked, and saw he hesitate before answering. He shook his head in return, not really bothering to voice out his answer.

"And yet you still tried. You kept trying no matter what the other said" she grimaced slightly seeing him flinch, probably recalling Stoick's public scowling or his cousin's teasing, "no matter how much your inventions failed, until you finally caught him. And…" she casted a glance toward where she supposed Toothless was lying asleep, "the result was worth all those failed attempts, wasn't it?" she asked, and he nodded in return, his answer being more determined than the last.

"None of us knew what we were going to face that day" he paled slightly, and she felt guilt for reminding him of that day. It was no mystery to her that he had nightmares about the battle, since there were days he seemed to be almost sleeping on his feet. "But we followed you, I followed you because even though you also didn't know what we would face, you were determined, and filled with hope that, in the end, it would all be alright."

"And now we are willing to follow you again, no matter what happens. But you also need to be determined and hopeful, just like you were that day. Because if someone can make Vikings and dragons coexist, that someone is you Hiccup." she said softly and at the same time fiercely. She smiled when she saw the cloud of doubt slowly vanishing from his eyes, in its place a flame alighting, the same flame that drove him to tame the Nightmare, and to ride the dragons to face the Queen.

"You're right…" he said after a moment of silence. "If we could defeat a mountainous dragon, we can deal with a bunch of stubborn Vikings" he said lightly as he slowly untangled himself from her hands. When he stood, Astrid smiled proudly. He was no longer looking defeated, but was looking determined, driven by a purpose. "After all we're Vikings, it's an occupational hazard" he said with his trademark sarcasm, making her chuckle.

She stood as well and met his gaze. The smile he gave her gave place to a slightly pained expression once her fist connected with his right arm "OWWWW" he yelled, "Why would you do that?" he asked somewhat annoyed, but also with a hint of amusement in his voice. He was no stranger to Astrid's weird method of communication, and was thankful to see the tough Valkyrie back after her emotional speech.

"That…" she said pointing to his arm, "was for doubting yourself." She brushed her bangs covering her left eye, a few locks being placed behind her ear. For a second she avoided his gaze, before taking him by the collar of his neck and locking her lips onto his. Unlike their first time, she lingered a little longer, savoring at how soft his lips were, and even cupping his face with her free hand.

He was too shocked to reciprocate the kiss. Astrid was kissing him, again! The only thing his mind registered was how sweet her lips were, sweeter than the sweetest honey he had ever tasted, and how soft they seemed to be. When he finally came back to reality Astrid parted away before he could even move his arm. "And that's… for everything else" she said, a faint blush creeping on her cheeks, although it was nothing when compared to the furious blush Hiccup had.

She cleared her throat to push away the awkwardness of the moment. "So… are you ready to return to the village? Your father seemed very worried about you" she said. His smiled faltered slightly, but, much to her surprise, it didn't entirely vanish.

"As ready as I'll ever be…" he answered before whistling to Toothless. The Night Fury had been quietly watching the scene unfold. He had detected Hiccup's sour mood, and, given how the blond had treated him both during his coma and these days, he knew she would lighten him up sooner or later. So obviously he sensed his rider's brightened mood, and happily bounced toward him.

Hiccup was pinned to the ground with Toothless happily licking his face. Astrid just watched bemused the scene unfold, and even let out a chuckle seeing how happy Hiccup seemed to be. "Alright, alright you overgrown salamander, that's enough" Hiccup playfully scolded Toothless as he tried to push the Night Fury's face away from his slobbered person.

He cleaned himself as much as he could, and sighed happily. Even though the saliva would be hard to wash out he was happy that Toothless was happy. "Ready to go back?" he asked the dragon, who enthusiastically nodded.

If someone had been awake that night, they would have seen a pair of dragons leaving the cove and heading toward Berk. While before cries of dragon raid would have been shouted as soon as they had been spotted, and dragons would have growled before shooting flames, now not a single sound was heard other than the thumps of two dragons and their riders landed.

Astrid bid him goodnight before parting ways; the blond heading toward her home while Hiccup toward his. He stopped in front of the door and sighed. He knew things would not be easy, although they had never been. He spared a glance toward his dragon, which looked back at his rider.

Hiccup smiled, and drew a deep breath. The war with the dragons might be over, but peace with the creatures was far from settled. But he was not alone in this journey. He had Toothless, his best friend; he had Astrid and the teens to help him. And, just as his relationship with his father was slowly being amended, coexisting with the dragons would slowly become a reality.

He opened the door and entered the house, ready to face one of the many challenges the future would bring him. With Toothless at his side, he felt like he could defeat the Red Death all over again. Astrid was right, he was no longer alone.

.

.

Stoick was asleep in his chair, head pillowed on his arms on the table, still fully dressed with his battle ax standing next to him. He had been waiting for Hiccup, but at one moment his tiredness won over his anxiety and he fell asleep. Sleep wasn't any better, since nightmares of Hiccup leaving, or dying, plagued his mind.

Hiccup smiled slightly, too tired to notice that Stoick had a somewhat anguished look on his face. Then he walked upstairs, the wood creaking as usual.

.

.

Stoick woke to the sound of soft footsteps in the room above, the shuffling of cloths and the sound of a chair being pulled back. He heard the soft whispered conversation of his son with his dragon, the purring the dragon did in response and heard the familiar sound of his boy's voice.

And it felt good because the silence that had covered the house once again was gone.

He climbed up the stairs and peaked into the room. Hiccup was kneeling next to Toothless's head and was stroking his forehead while talking to the dragon. The dragon gave no verbal answer, not even a purr, but with his mimic, his eyes and ears he still responded.

Stoick couldn't understand their language; nobody could as a matter of fact. But his son could.

One of the boy's many amazing talents.

He watched how his only son got up, stretched and looked around.

He looked tired. He was pale, hauntingly similar to the same pale tone he had the day he awoke from his coma. He was swaying slightly.

He seemed to collapse onto his bed rather than just lying down.

"Goodnight Toothless. See you tomorrow. And try not to jump on the roof too much. Dad won't like it when you loosen all the tiles on the roof."

The dragon gave a small purr, Hiccup extinguished the candle on his nightstand and everything grew silent.

But it was a good silence. Because Stoick could still hear his sons even breathing, could hear him move and it gave him an odd warm feeling in his chest.

He wasn't alone anymore.

In fact, he'd never been.

When the vast man lay down on his bed, and drifted to sleep, he was no longer haunted by nightmares.

_**ANII: hope you guys liked it. For those wondering, there will soon be another update of How To Become a Dragon Chief. **_

_**Kate and War signing off**_


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